After many years waiting, writing and speaking about the subject, it appears Fibre To The Home has finally made it into the mainstream news.
So, in order to help others who may not have been involved in campaigning for FTTH for the last decade, this blog has been set up to try to keep all those who need to know about FTTx up to date with developments (or not if BT and BIS have their way), opinions, current thinking, functional projects etc.

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Thursday, 22 April 2010

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If you don't already know, the EU contingent (apart from Benoit who paid for the cloud to move!) missed Fiberfete in Louisiana. However, what FF showed was the world has moved on. And the EU contingent were there in spirit to absorb the knowledge.

This blog post can be read at http://5tth.blogspot.com

The Gigabit Society was just one of the talks that should have left UK politicians rewriting their manifestos.

Sadly, none of them seemed to be tuned in....out on the road campaigning, where of course all connectivity is minimal. Trouble is, this is the stuff they need to know. But they can't connect...so, for them, it still doesn't exist. Ho Hum.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, RDAs (Regional Development Agencies) are under siege from utility companies trying to get smart metering funding, FTTN=Fibre To The Nobody, ISPA took BT out at the knees for BET's roll out (that'll be a wholesale NO) and the electioneers failed to use Twitter, social media etc to engage with the people.

If you don't know where the links are for those stories, I strongly suggest you try Google. (It's a search engine.) Meanwhile, Google are digging up their own parking lot to avoid planning issues to discover innovative methods of laying fibre. Go every single private company and community who can find a route round bureaucracy to JFDI so we finally get FTTH (Home) or FTTB (Business).

This country is now in the top ahem 30 - woot, not - and unless we stymie the incumbents and ignorant ministers etc, there we will stay.

My favourite, favourite bit of the last two days has to be Lafayette's Truth Squads. Having spent a blissfully happy week there a mere two months ago, I think this blog may now become a Truth Squad Evangelist. Incumbents - put out your press releases.....we will respond.Read more!

Thursday, 8 April 2010

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It is with great sadness that I hear of Guy's passing last night.

This blog post can be read at http://5tth.blogspot.com

His final blog posts made difficult reading, but his ability to write concisely was undimmed, and his humour still shines through.

There is an obit here from a colleague who knew Guy far better than I. However, I am privileged to say I knew him and will deeply miss his journalism and chats at conferences etc. His sofa I will miss far less!

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If you can play this very, very simple game without it sputtering and halting you into submission and a score below 10k, your broadband is bog standard by world standards.

If you want to know if your connection is of equivalent standard to other countries, log into any MMPORG game or a live Second Life sesh and see how far you get.... or watch Newsround this evening and have it explained by 11-12 year olds.

This blog post can be read at http://5tth.blogspot.com

If you can't do either - like me - you are one of the QUITE-VERY digitally excluded. Maybe what we need is a digitally excluded scale?

How digitally excluded are you?

Uber - shared lines (15 people on 5 phone lines, multiple DACS etc, not even meeting the USO for a basic telephone and 28k internet connection)Extremely - dial up onlyVery - connected to a digital exchange but even the engineers have given up. Often offered a solution that will cost £20-40,000+ - this is where nearly every single 'notspot' will find themselves.Quite - Sold a product called "broadband" that, ahem, isn't even close and cannot be over the current incumbent tech.

If your connection cannot even cope with something like the games that are only marginally more advanced those that I played in Trent Poly in the early 70s, then how will it cope with telehealth, e-education, video on demand, video conferencing etc? As I watch my little 'cannon' jolt its way to the next lily pad and miss due to jitter, latency, contention etc, the whole scenario seems bordering on surreal for a country which claims/lies to be leading the digital revolution.

Send the PPCs on their election campaign to my doorstep NOW. Whilst I have multiple concerns about my deeply rural community and policies to solve rural issues, the PPC will need to answer questions about UK tech policies before ANYTHING ELSE.

Wednesday, 7 April 2010

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There is money, still, pouring in from Brussels and the EU for broadband/NGA projects, including in the UK. And the Euro lottery fund this week stands at £13M...so, what would you spend it on if you could access any of this money?

This blog post can be read at http://5tth.blogspot.com

You're about to be inundated with electioneering in the UK. Respond and retaliate. Imagine you only stood on communications and broadband issues. What are your policies? How would you spend the money available to solve the problem - phone levy, major EU subsidies, a lottery win etc?

What would be your solutions? Where would you start? Final Third First or a competitive market place? Force incumbents to play? Or offer new entrants a level playing field?

There are over a thousand people read this blog regularly - have your say! Post anonymously, if you wish. Perhaps it is time to speak now, before the election, and show you care about this issue........

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Yesterday, I read hundreds of comments about the Digital Economy Bill. I came away with a single thought....

This blog post can be read at http://5tth.blogspot.com

Aren't you...as the creative industry....lucky to have people out there 'protecting your interests'? Because many of us are doing what we feel to be right, because it needs doing, and knowing there is no chance of EVER being paid. We don't have a BMI etc to back us up.

It doesn't stop us doing it. Whether it is a scarecrow festival, an outside art installation, a campaign to save a pub or a village hall, a Parent Teachers Association raising money for the school, or major/minor campaigns endeavouring to prevent democracy being made a mockery of.

Unpaid? Who cares? If it matters, we will attempt to change the course of events, actions, thinking, etc. AT OUR OWN COST.

Do you?

Will you stand by your own beliefs, even when they cost you £££s? Or are you so shallow that you will only fight the corner when £££s enter the equation? Is any of it about £££s, or is it about a way of life, a community, the values that can be attributed to the maintenance of a tradition or an asset? The longevity of creativity, innovation, and far-sighted thinking?

Take 2 steps back. Why do you support what you support? Are your reasons for doing so - ethical, moral, purposeful, community-minded, long term? Or are they just egotistical and with a few £££s signs littering the path you choose to temporarily fill your £££bank account?